Founded in 1857, Chateau Ksara is one of Lebanon’s oldest and largest wineries as well as the first to produce red wine in the country!
For their 160th grape harvest, the renowned winery in Bekaa invited media and influencers for two days in Zahle to experience the art of wine and celebrate their ongoing success.
We checked in to our gorgeous medieval-style room at the Cristal Grand Kadri Hotel in Zahle. A lovely gift from Chateau Ksara welcomed us.
Wine and I have recently become friends – T was especially happy about this newfound friendship since I don’t usually drink so it’s nice to clink our glasses of wine for a change (as opposed to the not-so-romantic water) (which is just as delicious, by the way!!).
We had an hour to kill before discovering the caves of Chateau Ksara followed by a grand dinner at their estate, so we popped into the vibrant Berdawni street for a snack (or two).
It’s not exactly “ruining” our dinner if we snacked on some crunchy hot chips! Seriously, if you’re in Berdawni or see these twister potatoes anywhere, give them a try, they’re delicious.
After arriving back to the hotel (which is literally a 5 minute walk from Berdawni), we got in the car and drove to the Chateau Ksara estate about a few minutes away by car.
If you haven’t been to Chateau Ksara before, it’s utterly gorgeous and well worth a tour of the caves (which is given for free by the way). We got a special tour that evening since we were attending their 160th harvest celebration. Our group toured the “VIP” sections of their caves filled with even older (moldier) bottles of wine – these archive sections are usually closed to the public as they hold their most prized bottles.
After our informative and awesome tour, we hung out on the terrace and enjoyed some chilled wine.
Now let’s have dinner!
There was cake too!
You probably know which one I went for. Yes, I had a slice of each. No, I didn’t regret it. There was some regret…
We went back to the hotel a little later (and a little more buzzed) than anticipated.
Our group managed to sleep for a few hours before waking up at 7am to have a quick breakfast at the hotel and then hop on the bus with Chateau Ksara team to the fields for some grape picking i.e. harvesting. Check out these awesome scenes on the way to the vineyard!
The grapes are harvested in a delicate and precise manner every year to make that delicious fragrant wine we all know and love (the latter being most recently in my case).
After breaking a sweat, we refueled those calories we lost with a delicious brunch at Khirbet Qanafar by the vineyards. We were completely surrounded by nature!
Thank you Chateau Ksara for a great and memorable weekend in Zahle! 3a2bel l 10000 🙂
If you’re interested, Chateau Ksara organizes wine tours on a daily basis at their winery in Bekaa. I’ve done the tour multiple times and I can’t recommend it enough! After the tour, you get to sample some delicious local wine 😉
Price per person: FREE (including wine tasting)
For more information, check out the (really cool) Chateau Ksara website and Facebook page or call +961-8-813495.
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Looks like an amazing day, was the hotel good???
Recommended for a stay in Zahle for sure!